Re: Billups&Mercer

[michael t hart <thart@henge1.henge.com>]

grant hill

Jo Hironaka wrote:

> >>Evan LaGasse wrote:
> >>1) What does everyone think about the Billups trade? Short term and
> long
> >>term.
>
> I’ll miss Chauncey because:
>
> 1. Not only was he 3 inches and 30 pounds bigger than KA, he also was
> having a better rookie year statistically than KA did (or for that
> matter Gary Payton, Kevin Johnson etc).
> 2. He has the sweetest crossover-dribble this side of Tim Hardaway. I
> think Chauncey has made it onto "NBA Courtside Countdown" 3 or 4 times
> already.
> 3. He never seemed the slightest bit nervous in big games or in the last
> minutes of close games.
> 4. He talked and walked like a throwback Celtic. Celtics Pride is
> important. He was team-spirited, he was articulate without being slick,
> he seemed mature, he was the kind of guy you’d want your sister to bring
> home for dinner etc.
>
> Obviously, many experts say he can’t play one-guard in the NBA. I’m
> definitely not an expert, but my guess is that he can eventually develop
> into an All Star and team leader even on a strong NBA team, provided
> he’s in the ideal situation (not Pitino-style basketball). IMO, Billups
> is definitely not just another Gerald Henderson, BJ Armstrong, Dee
> Brown, failed-experiment-at-point-guard-type player.
>
> >From the standpoint of the Celtics, the saddest part about drafting
> Billups with the 3rd pick is that he obviously wasn’t as good a scoring
> point guard prospect as the guys who entered the draft the year before
> him (Iverson and Marbury) and he had nothing near the court vision of
> the one who decided to stay in school (Mike Bibby).
>
> If only Bibby, Raef LaFrentz or Antawn Jamison had been available at
> no.3!  If I were their economics professor, I’d have told them "who
> needs education, baby, you can be a Celtic for the next 10 years!"
>
> >>2) What do people think about Ron Mercer? From what I've seen, he
> looks
> >>like he could be very good someday (sooner rather than later)
>
> IMO, in order to be a perennial All Star, Ron Mercer will need to
> average somewhere between 13-15 assists+rebounds+steals per game (he
> averages less than 7 combined right now). One-dimensional NBA scoring
> machines come and go (Ron Harper, Harold Minor, Chuck and Wesley
> Person). Even guys with "double-double" type stats (Shareef, Goog,
> Iverson, Marbury, Webber, Howard, Rod Strickland,) don’t make the All
> Star team on a regular basis.
>
> As much as I love him, the only way I can imagine Ron Mercer making his
> first All Star team is if:
> 1)  he can average 20ppg 5apg  6rpg  2spg (minimum);
> 2)  the celts can win 50+ games per year and be on national TV a lot;
> 3)  he can win a dunk contest or make a few shoe commercials.
>
> I guess its possible. I think he’s a former High School Player of the
> Year, and he definitely raises his level of leadership and play in
> FinalFour-type games. My biggest fear is that Mercer is way too shy
> about demanding the ball from his team mates. It is as though he doesn’t
> enjoy the spotlight, not for fear of choking but because he prefers to
> not make waves and just mind his own business.
>
> >>3) Should the C's sign Walker if he asks for 100 million or more? It
> seems
> >>to me that they have to give him whatever he asks for or the franchise
>
> >>will be right back where they were a couple years ago.
>
> Informal Poll:
> If forced to by circumstances, which NBA player would you trade AW
> straight up for next summer?
> {for fun, let’s pretend -within reason- that the other trading party
> would agree}.
>
> Personally, I would trade him only for Vin Baker, Shareef, Jayson
> Williams or a top young center (Mourning or Howard). None of those guys
> would cost much more than what re-signing AW will cost, thus leaving us
> with the same cap room to sign an additional piece of the puzzle.
>
> JoeHironaka
> Paris
>
> p.s. I don't know why some of you are pencilling in Popeye Jones as a
> starter next year. For a guy who makes his living jumping for rebounds,
> a torn ACL sounds to me like a career-ending-type injury. Are there any
> medical experts out there who can tell us what Popeye's chances are of a
> full recovery?
>
> *****